We had some good friends over to dinner last night to help us consume a large Paella Valenciana that I made with the Bomba rice from the Callasparra region of Spain that arrived in our LBC balikbayan box the other day (finally… it took 65 days when they promised it in 45!). For dessert, The Kid and 
I decided to attempt to recreate the tartufo that she and her mom had at Piazza Navona in Rome. The pictures say a thousand words…they turned out brilliantly, were relatively easy to make and tasted totally over the top… To make, head over to a decent purveyor of gelato (we went to Pazzo in the basement of Rockwell Mall) and purchase some chocolate and vanilla or gianduja marble gelato. We got 500 grams of each and the kilo total made 8 large servings. Back home, use small molds for jello or muffins or cakes (we used aluminum pans) and put a layer of chocolate gelato and quickly insert in a very cold freezer. Once that layer hardens in say 2 hours, put some of the lighter gelato inside and smooth the bottom of the ice cream. Cover with some waxed paper to prevent icing and chill this overnight…
The next day, dip the container in some cool water (outside surface only) and 
turn it over to extract the molded gelato onto your serving plate. Sprinkle the gelato with good cocoa, add some whipped cream, sprinkle with shaved curls of dark chocolate and serve with a cookie. By the time it gets to your guests, it will be softening slightly and utterly delicious. When you cut into the gelato, you should see the different colors of gelato within… The photos here on a red plate are the gelato prepared completely by The Kid. The one on the white plate is one that I made up… Frankly, The Kid wins this plating exercise hand down…
9 Responses
Thanks for this, MM! I’m gonna try it but with a cheaper but just as good gelato c/o Amici de Don Bosco (also sold at Walter-mart!)….
Yup MM! The Kid wins hands down in presentation. Your recent posts has enticed me to go back into the kutchen and try them all. They seem easy but then again it’s the ingredients that count the most… the fresher and more authentic the better.
The pics of the flowers and dishes are superb. Thanks again.
I’ll just comment some other time. I’m going to the kitchen….
Seems like “the Kid”is following someone’s footsteps. Goodonya Kid!
Now I’m off to our local gelaterio and get us some pistachio and vanilla bean flavor gelati,or maybe gianduja. Yum!
Salamat,MM!
My sister made tartufo several weeks ago for Father’s Day (it was one of FIVE desserts that day; my dad’s a rebel diabetic). She tried to form it into the traditional ball shape, but the weather just wouldn’t allow it, so she just served them in small ramekins. They were delicious, though! She put nuts and chocolate chips and coated them in a hard chocolate shell.
Several Italian restos here (Galileo, La Grotta, Bellini’s, as well as Press Cafe in Rockwell) now serve tartufo — they all look the same, so I suspect they’re from the same supplier.
hi MM, what do you mean by lighter gelato? thanks!
Gigi, yup, Amici’s will work too. And not mall pricing either. Ana, sorry, I meant the lighter colored gianduja gelato inside… not lighter in weight! My mistake!
MM,
One of the photos here is borderline objectionable.
kid2.jpg
len, how in any reasonable stretch of one’s imagination, can the second photo be objectionable???